Cheat Sheet to Athalia species of Britain and Ireland
The characteristics listed here are a rule of thumb field guide and does not account for the many variants that you may encounter. If in doubt, key it out!
Athalia rosae
1 Lateral and ventral faces of thorax entirely orange. 2 Front and back lobes of dorsal face of thorax orange, lateral faces black. Pronotum orange. 3 All tibiae ringed apically with black. 4 Often larger than the other Athalia species.
Athalia scutellariae
1 Lateral and ventral faces of thorax orange except for the mesepimeron and metapleuron. 2 All lobes of dorsal face of thorax black. Pronotal shoulders orange. 3 All tibiae ringed apically with black but front tibiae usually only faintly. 4 Waterside species close to skullcap foodplant. Athalia bicolor
1 Lateral and ventral faces of thorax black. 2 All lobes of dorsal face of thorax black. Pronotal shoulders dark/orange. 3 Only hind tibiae ringed apically with black. Coxae black at least basally. 4 First tergite of abdomen black.
Athalia lugens
1 Lateral and ventral faces of thorax orange except for black propleuron. 2 All lobes of dorsal face of thorax black. Pronotal shoulders orange. 3 Hind tibiae darkened for much of its length fading from apex to base.
Athalia cordata
1 Lateral and ventral faces of thorax extensively black. Mesopleura sometimes with a small orange spot. 2 All dorsal lobes of thorax black. Pronotal shoulders orange. 3 All tibiae ringed apically with black. 4 Often found around bugle and ground ivy often with other species.
Athalia circularis
1 Lateral and ventral faces of thorax variable from extensively black to with a large orange spot on the mesopleura. 2 All dorsal lobes of thorax black. Pronotal shoulders orange. 3 Either hind tibiae only, or hind and mid tibiae with black at the apices.
Athalia liberta/cornubiae agg.
1 Lateral and ventral faces of thorax entirely orange. 2 All lobes of dorsal face of thorax black. Pronotal shoulders orange. 3 All tibiae darkened at apex. 4 A. cornubiae associated with stonecrop food plants. A. liberta more widely distributed.
Athalia ancilla
1 The only Athalia species where more than the basal one third of the costal and sub-costal veins are yellow. 2 Associated with wet places.